Conserve Energy and Save Money with Belkin Conserve Power Switches

Not only can overcharging your electronic batteries waste energy but it can ruin your battery or battery life in your favorite products. Also, products that are turned off can still “phantom draw” power, which these outlets can prevent from happening.

My favorite by far is the Belkin Conserve Socket Energy Saving Outlet ($9.99 on sale right now for $7.99). I use it to charge our electronics as well as having one for my flat iron. I would often leave my flat iron all day long, which not only used up unnecessary power costing me money but also left some brown marks on my counter top as well as being a fire hazard. Oops! I set my timer for my flat iron for just 30 minutes and now I don’t have to worry if I turned it off as it will automatically shut off power.

It is very easy (think idiot proof!) to set the time between 30 minutes, 3 hours or 6 hours. I use the 3 hour mark often with our iPods or iPads as that is generally enough time to get a full charge. It would also work great with fans, heaters, lamps, electric toothbrushes, battery operated drills, and many more items!

I also bought several of the Belkin Conserve Power Switch ($6.99). However, if I did it again, I’d spend the extra $3 and upgrade to the timer switch as it’s effortless! I do use the Belkin Conserve Power Switch for my coffeemaker, since I don’t use it but every few days and I don’t need an additional item telling me what time it is. I also don’t use the delay or set ahead function so there is absolutely no reason it needs to be plugged in all the time. You simply flip a switch to turn the power to the item on. It lacks the convenience of the timer but it does allow you to have an item on for longer the 6 hour period if you need too.

I haven’t explored the Belkin Conserve Smart AV F7C007q Energy-Saving Power Strip ($29.00) as much as the other two. It basically will allow you to plug in one master item like a television or a game console. When it is turned off, the items you have plugged into the specified slots will also power down. It also has two slots for continuous items you need plugged in like a satellite or cable box. I need to get behind our television to get this one plugged in and functioning as it would be much simpler to just turn off the main item instead of turning off 2-3 additional items (DVD, sound system, etc.) each time we want to power off the television.

I also purchased the Belkin Conserve Switch Energy-Saving Surge with Remote ($34.97) to try this one out. This one I am using in my office area with my laptop, monitor, and a couple of other chargers. This one relies on a remote control to turn off the power to the specified items. There is a couple of always on outlets too for routers. I keep forgetting to turn off the power to this when I leave this area. However, if we were going on a long trip, it would be easy to remote control it all off with the switch.

I haven’t been using these products to see a drop in our electric bill and I don’t suppose I will see a dramatic difference but those small amounts do add up. If I did want to be nerdy, I could buy a Energy Use Monitor, which now thinking about it, I may do so I can really see the savings.

**This is all my own opinion and not sponsored or affiliated in any way with Belkin. The links provided are affiliate links to Amazon, which I will make a little commission when purchased through the links above – THANKS!**